Losing half the battle
by UnluckyAmulet
Summary: Introspective. As Nanao and Lilinette watch the fighting, Nanao feels pity and Lilinette laments the situation. "You know, if we weren't so different, maybe we could have been friends."


Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach! It would be nice if I did...

Just a sort of alternate version to the Karakura Invasion arc. (Chapter 316, or thereabouts.) Spoilers for non-manga readers. Pairings are slight Lilinette/Stark and Nanao/Kyoraku.

Enjoy!

* * *

They know better to interfere.

Two females watch as their masters fight one another, the sheer force of their reiatsu is enough to keep them back. But the wait as the two combatents fight is beginning to take its toll. The smaller female snorts.

"S'not fair." mutters Lilinette mutinously, her magenta eye narrowing as she watches Stark, feeling strangely small and exposed without him. "Why couldn't your dumb old Captain just have done what Stark said? Then they wouldn't be fighting!"

Usually, Nanao would have been annoyed at such remarks towards her Captain, but looking at Lilinette and her petulant yet anxious expression, she feels all the irritation suddenly leave her, like a popped balloon.

"...It wouldn't have mattered much." replies Nanao eventually. "Somebody else would have noticed that they weren't fighting for real."

"Stark doesn't _want _to fight." retorts Lilinette, but there is no real fire in her voice. "An' neither do I." she adds, almost as an afterthought. "We're only here 'cuz Aizen-sama told us to come. But now he's not even here to see us!"

Nanao doesn't really know what to say to that. Like most lieutenants in the Gotei 13, she's fully aware of the chaos that the three traitors left behind, but she can see that arguing the point is worthless. But watching Kyoraku and the Espada, she can't help but notice how they are being very deliberate. They both fight robotically. Well, but with no real conviction. Perhaps they are aware of the futility of their plight. Maybe they don't understand what they are fighting for, or against.

Suddenly, Nanao becomes aware of Lilinette watching her.

"...What is it?" she said to the Fraccion. Lilinette scowls.

"Shouldn't _we_ be fighting?" asks the Arrancar, not sounding very sure of her own question. Nanao stares at her.

"You're asking me permission?" answers the lieutenant, noticing that Lilinette doesn't seem to even have a sword, let alone any other means to defend herself.

"_No_." enunciates Lilinette, sticking her tongue out angrily. There was another pause.

"But I want to help Stark." she admits, sadly. "He...he didn't want me to get hurt, but now he's fighting...he promised he wouldn't let me die, but I don't WANT him to get hurt!"

Nanao is at a loss for words. Lilinette hasn't noticed.

"...Aren't you worried about your Captain?" she asks now, watching the two men battle on, like chess pieces come to life.

"All I can do is put my faith in him." answers Nanao, the words jumping out of her mouth before she has time to consider them. Now that she's said the first bit, she feels obligated to elaborate. "I can't be scared for him. Because...then I won't have the will to carry on."

Lilinette frowns, but not angrily. She seems more to be considering Nanao's answer. Nanao doesn't say anything. She feels almost as though she and this Arrancar are having a spar of their very own, but not one they have entered willingly or have any control over. Nanao used to just think that there were sides and that was that. Shinigami and Arrancar. But it doesn't exactly surprise her to find that she is wrong. After all, when you are on one side, you never really hear the other side's version. Not unless you seek it out.

"You know, it's sad."

Nanao looks over at the young Arrancar, startled. Lilinette doesn't seem notice Nanao's reaction, but she stares almost moodily at her master, as though he is doing something childish and embarrassing.

"I always thought you Shinigami were evil," Lilinette mutters, finally turning toward Nanao and away from the Espada, her rose-coloured eye oddly piercing in the sunlight, "An' I bet you always thought Arrancar were bad."

Nanao just bites her lip, struggling to think of a diplomatic way to deny this, but Lilinette ploughs on,

"But...your Captain doesn't wanna fight. Neither does Stark. And you don't. And I don't wanna either. But Aizen-sama said we had to come, and that old guy told you to fight. Nothing we can do about it."

Lilinette looks over to the five pillars, curiously.

"And all over some humans. But maybe humans aren't so different from Shinigami and Arrancar either. They fight each other, too."

"Yes..." Nanao says, unsure of what exactly is taking place, but the Arrancar's words echo her own thoughts in an eerily similar way. "When there are two forces who are different, there is always strife between them... And those caught in the middle are sacrificed."

Lilinette smiles, sadly.

"You know, if we weren't different...maybe we could be friends."

The lieutenant and the Fraccion, however, don't know their conversation had been overheard.

"So typical of Nanao-chan." muses Kyoraku, blocking a lazy swing from Stark's sword. "She's always so _serious_."

"Lilinette's just the opposite." remarks Stark, side-stepping Kyoraku. "Perhaps your lieutenant is a potentially good influence."

"Well, Nanao-chan could do with having more fun," Kyoraku replies, cheerily, "I'd say they make a good balance, no?"

"Maybe." Stark answers, wryly.

The two blades clash for a moment, Kyoraku's second blade hanging by his side, unused. Their movements are still graceful and controlled; neither of them has been injured yet. The cries of the serious fights echo around them, yet neither Espada nor Captain care about killing.

"But your lieutenant has a point." notes Stark, rubbing the back of his head, "Despite what we want, one side is still the opposition. No matter which of us wins, the other will still lose something."

Kyoraku grins.

"You're not very cheerful, are you?" he teases, "Being so gloomy isn't a good way to make friends."

"That's dangerous talk." Stark says, and a slight smile flits onto his face as a huge explosion sounds in the background.

Kyoraku's eyes sparkle mischievously.

"What they don't know won't hurt them."

* * *

I'm going to be sad when Stark gets killed. He's one of my favourite Espada...and Lilinette's awesome too.

Reviews are appreciated!


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